Favorite Lyrics

[ShiraNoMai]

We all have our favorite songs and tunes, so I'm certain you've had a few earworms infect your brain from time to time. Or, quite possibly, just have some meaningful memories with a few stanzas written by a stellar lyricist. Either way, share with us your favorite lyrics you've come across!

My favorite lyrics have to be a few stanzas that evolve over time from my favorite late singer/songwriter, Jonghyun (TW: Suicide)

Your small shoulders, your small hands
Become my cozy blanket at the end of a tiring day
You did a good job today, you worked so hard

to

Be honest, you’re really lonely
Be honest, you know you can’t go on any longer
Since when were you alone?
It’s to the point where it’s awkward
To look into my own eyes in the mirror
I’m, I’m

to then...

I can’t forgive myself
I can’t forgive you
I keep making myself cry
Wanting the you of the past
Just need to go a little more
Just one more step and it’s all over
Don’t foolishly hold on, just let me go

and finally, in his posthumous album:

Actually, looking at you
Watching over you
Makes me happy
Just looking at you smiling
Just watching over you makes me feel at peace

The bold text is what was written in his suicide note.

Anyway, sorry I couldn't come up with more happy lyrics; sad lyrics resonate with me the most it seems

[Moonface]

I wonder if Linkin Park's songs have a similar tonal message throughout them in the lead up to Chester's suicide in the same way the songs you quoted do for Jognhyun. I remember hearing people saying that some signs were there for Chester in hindsight but I don't know if that applied to the song contents or the way he was performing at live shows.

[ShiraNoMai]

I doubt One More Light's lyrical themes were any more different than their past entries. Besides, I don't think Chester alone writes them? Doesn't Mike write most of them? Either way, performances more than likely were more intense.

Some fun lyrics I love are from Childish Gambino:

I love pussy, I love bitches, dude, I should be runnin' PETA

[Moonface]

I doubt One More Light's lyrical themes were any more different than their past entries. Besides, I don't think Chester alone writes them? Doesn't Mike write most of them? Either way, performances more than likely were more intense.

Most of the album that song features on wasn't written by Chester, and I think it was finished before Cornell passed away, which hit him really hard. He did struggle performing songs on the album live following Cornell's death, so my guess is the album had heavy content but really got to Chester when he experienced such a heavy loss alongside that album release.

[Moonface]

Just realized that I've never shared any lyrics of my own that I really like. 

So I really like the lyrics of the entire song of One by Metallica because it tells such a good story without needing to know context behind it like how some songs can be when basing themselves on an event (real or otherwise). But my favourite part of the lyrics is the part near the end:

Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell

Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell

I think it just does a really good job at summarizing the events of the song almost like how an essay will close off with an overlook of the main body of text.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah "One" is one of those songs that are just an encompassing masterpiece. Storytelling through lyrics is fun, but when it's got reflective backstory on a very emotional and heavy topic, it's bound to be quite a listen.

Another song with great storytelling, though not necessarily through emotions but rather the way it's told, is "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band. Probably one of the few bluegrass songs I really love, telling the story of making a deal with the devil (and succeeding!)

The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet
Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again
I done told you once you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been"

[Karo]

So I recently discovered this song and it been stuck on my mind for quite a while now:

I hope you're happy
I hope you're good
I hope you get what you wish for
And you're well understood
And whatever your progress
I know you'll be fine
Because I hope you're happy
Even if you're not mine

I think it such a nice song really I recommend listening to it.

[Moonface]

So thinking of lyrics i really enjoy is actually harder than I thought but I did remember these lyrics to the opening of a song that I think are absolutely legendary:

And the angel of the lord came unto me
Snatching me up from my place of slumber
And took me on high and higher still
Until we moved to the spaces betwixt the air itself
And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own Midwest
And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil
One thousand nay a million voices full of fear
And terror possessed me then
And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams?
And the angel said unto me
These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!
You see, Reverend Maynard
Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust
And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared
"Hear me now, I have seen the light!
They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul!
Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!
Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus

Overall the song is whatever but I'll never skip it just so I can hear that opening. XD

[ShiraNoMai]

These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!
You see, Reverend Maynard
Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust

Best part

[Moonface]

Had this song play in my shuffle today and I hadn't heard it in so long I forgot about this part in the song which I've always loved ever since I first heard the song however many years ago. I instantly remembered this thread exists when hearing it because of how badly I wanted to share it. XD

White Americans, what? Nothing better to do
Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant too

I don't actually know what the song overall is meant to be about and this is really the only part I understand in any amount which might also be why it stands out so much to me since it feels very prominent when it seems to be the only plain thing said in the song.

[Maniakkid25]

I like that line a lot, too. And the one that follows it.

Who's using who? What should we do?
Well, you can't be a pimp and a prostitute, too

This said, those lines come completely out of nowhere relative to the rest of the song, and just blindside you. The song is a pretty standard story of "Hey, I went to Mexico, found a place to sleep, acted like a jackass, and got robbed for it!"

Favorite lyrics? Jesus Christ, where do I start? Well, there are lyrics that I like because they just are good lyrics. I'm sure I could fish one out in a pinch, but it's hard to remember the hundreds of songs I've listened to on a moment's notice. But then there are songs like Schism by Tool, with its ending repeating "I know the pieces fit", representing the narrator's frustration and anger finally boiling over that the relationship the song is about didn't work out. There are lyrics that I like for their punch, the best example being Paper Valentines by the James Rocket. The first two choruses sing this:

It isn't worth the paper that it's written on
But yours will be the only desk it's sitting on
So won't you take
My paper valentine heart (the second chorus cuts this line to go into a solo)

But then the final chorus hits, and it's swinging for the fences!

It isn't worth the paper that it's written on
But you only get to burn it once before it's gone
So keep it safe
My paper valentine heart

I don't know about you, but that cuts so deep for me.

But there's one song that is looming large over all of these, and it's Deja Vu by Eminem. While the verse go through a (somewhat fictionalized) run through of his drug addiction relapse that nearly killed him, the chorus is an eerie, haunting line that perfectly describes what an abyss Depression truly is. If I could actually write music, I would straight up steal this chorus wholesale; it's that good.

Sometimes I feel so alone, I just don't know
Feels like I been down this road before
So lonely and cold, it's like something takes over me
As soon as I go home and close the door
Kinda feels like déjà vu
I wanna get away from this place, I do
But I can't and I won't, say I try, but I know that's a lie
'Cause I don't and why, I just don't know

[Moonface]

I like that line a lot, too. And the one that follows it.

Who's using who? What should we do?
Well, you can't be a pimp and a prostitute, too

This said, those lines come completely out of nowhere relative to the rest of the song, and just blindside you. The song is a pretty standard story of "Hey, I went to Mexico, found a place to sleep, acted like a jackass, and got robbed for it!"

Mm, makes sense now that I recall the music video. I tend to be pretty shit at deciphering song meanings unless it's hitting me around the head with it though.

Favorite lyrics? Jesus Christ, where do I start? Well, there are lyrics that I like because they just are good lyrics. I'm sure I could fish one out in a pinch, but it's hard to remember the hundreds of songs I've listened to on a moment's notice. But then there are songs like Schism by Tool, with its ending repeating "I know the pieces fit", representing the narrator's frustration and anger finally boiling over that the relationship the song is about didn't work out.

See point above: did not know remotely what Schism was about at all so learning this was interesting. XD

But there's one song that is looming large over all of these, and it's Deja Vu by Eminem. While the verse go through a (somewhat fictionalized) run through of his drug addiction relapse that nearly killed him, the chorus is an eerie, haunting line that perfectly describes what an abyss Depression truly is. If I could actually write music, I would straight up steal this chorus wholesale; it's that good.

Sometimes I feel so alone, I just don't know
Feels like I been down this road before
So lonely and cold, it's like something takes over me
As soon as I go home and close the door
Kinda feels like déjà vu
I wanna get away from this place, I do
But I can't and I won't, say I try, but I know that's a lie
'Cause I don't and why, I just don't know

Never heard of this song before, but wanted to listen to at least this part just so I could take it in better knowing the way it gets sung tonally and rhythmically. I like how it has a sort of rambly feeling to it as if the singer can't get their thoughts together and is just a bit of a mess in that moment, as well as how despite being a heavy subject it doesn't get sung in a way that makes me feel bad or something. There's some songs I listen to where a negative subject (loss) is sung in a really melancholy tone so it just makes me feel bad inside most times listening to it unless I'm in the headspace beforehand to not get bothered by it at all.

[ShiraNoMai]

Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) has some of my favorite rap lines, not for being prolific or poignant, but for their sheer comedy in how they're written and flow together. It's evident in his writing that he does rap for fun (even explicitly saying so) and it's one of my favorite ways to listen to rap/hip-hop

"I love pussy, I love bitches
Dude I should be running PETA"

"Met this fly Latino
Hoping she 18 though
If she's not
I'll say I got deep throat in Heathrow"

"She's an overachiever
Cuz she all she do is succeed (suck seed)"

"My dick is like an accent mark
It's all about the over e's (ovaries)"

[Maniakkid25]

Childish Gambino is really good as a rapper. I was very confused when I first found out he was a rapper, because I first learned him as Don Glover, the comedian. But Childish Gambino is great at both things.

Being on a bit of an Emma Essex kick now, I'm reminded of the title track of the Figurehead album having a great set of lyrics. I really like the whole song, but I'll highlight the chorus.

Forever still and unbending and unbreaking
You are the figurehead, your life the waves
Forever caught in the wind and the sleet and the rain
You will stay the course 'till the break of day

[Moonface]

I had B.Y.O.B. by System of a Down come onto my shuffle today and I hadn't heard that song in so long I forgot that it has lyrics that absolutely fit this thread for me:

Hangers sitting, dripped in oil
Crying, "freedom"
Handed to obsoletion
Still you feed us lies from the tablecloth

Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why do they always send the poor?

I've never known if the song is specifically about America or not since I know the band tends to try and focus on things like the Armenian genocide due to their background, so for all I know this could be about something related to that where America has zero involvement or maybe it's about just leaders in general all being sacks of lying shit and sending their populace to die in stupid wars.
Still, even when I first heard this it was before moving to America and so didn't really think about President's much since the UK doesn't have one and back then America didn't turn their politics into a soap opera like they do now to get their politicians constantly drilled into my head, and yet I still liked the lyrics because it could relate to most countries to some degree, particularly the part about sending the poor to die in wars.